Ink-jet printers are in widespread use today for printing functions in personal computer, facsimile and other applications. Such printers typically include replaceable or semi-permanent print cartridges which hold a supply of ink and carry the ink-jet printhead. The cartridge typically is secured into a printer carriage which supports one or a plurality of cartridges above the print medium, and traverses the medium in a direction transverse to the direction of medium travel through the printer. Electrical connections are made to the printhead by flexible wiring circuits attached to the outside of the cartridge. Each printhead includes a number of tiny nozzles defined in a substrate and nozzle plate structure which are selectively fired by electrical signals applied to interconnect pads to eject droplets of ink in a controlled fashion onto the print medium.
Multicolor cartridges are known which have multiple ink reservoirs and multiple printhead nozzle arrays, one of each for each different color of ink. A manifold structure is typically employed to direct the inks of different colors from the respective reservoirs to corresponding printhead nozzle arrays. The cartridges typically include a body structure to which the printhead structure is attached. Typically the body structures and manifolds for multicolor cartridges have been assembled from multiple plastic parts, which are then bonded together by techniques such as ultrasonic welding. Leaks and mislocation of the respective parts are perennial problems.